Your Turn
by Risque Tendencies
Summary: In which Gold is both a sentimentalist and a pervert, and Silver is simply tired of avoiding the charlatan. HunterShipping. Yaoi. Game-verse.


**A/N:** This is_ loosely_ based off the timeline of HeartGold/SoulSilver with infusions of the manga, but clearly is more adult. I think that shall cover the disclaimer, now won't it? I own nothing. Anyway, I wrote this like, two years ago, found it recently, and did a face-palm when I realized it was finished and I hadn't posted it. So, here it is! My writing style might have changed a little since then.

**Warning:** This is a yaoi story, if you weren't sure. If that isn't your cup of tea, you can stop now, and have a great day! If you do like two guys together, and specifically Gold + Silver, then by all means, read on! Merci.

**Warning 2x**: Possible OOC? I haven't written these guys before, really, so let me know what to improve on as far as characterization.

* * *

**Your Turn**

_GxS_

**.**

**.**

A young man shouldered his way up the street, ignoring the autumn chill in the air that stirred the leaves and threatened to cool him to his very bones.

_The Ecruteak Dance Theater._

On the outside it didn't seem promising to his goals. Elegant and traditional, the building housed a quintet of sisters who performed ritual dances and served tea, among other hostess-esque pursuits. Most of the patrons were not Trainers, but tourists and elders of the city; the devout, come festival time. It was not a closely-guarded secret, but neither was it common knowledge.

The five Kimono Girls were more than what they first appeared to be and instead proved formidable opponents. Each trained a different evolutionary form of Eevee, and the women were a collective set. If one was to challenge them, they would have to defeat them all in a row, with no breaks. Five unique battling styles combined with natural fortitude and the variety of typings faced; that mixture was why Silver had been drawn to come here in the first place.

It was later in the evening as he stood out front of the entrance. There was only one more performance scheduled for today, but until then, meals and drinks were being served to customers staying for the dance or simply for the refreshment alike. He decided to go in, uncomfortable as it made him to spend so much time in a public place, as if he were a normal person.

Once inside, he surveyed his route. The front room was empty, it couldn't be that busy. He elected to go on ahead without waiting. Surely he didn't need a hostess to figure out where he should go.

When he looked around, there lay a lengthy hallway in front of him. He had never been inside, nor had he taken the time to map the place out before, but none of it seemed too complex.

He scoured door to door, leaning inward as there were no coverings, and verifying each individual room. The first handful were empty, smaller rooms that he supposed were used for private dances or dinners. As Silver moved further down the hall, he could begin to hear a faint hum that sounded like music. He walked toward it, and sure enough, he soon reached the correct door.

Going in, he was let out into a pristine garden within a courtyard, where an older man sat in the center, playing an old-fashioned composition to set the mood. A few seniors were having tea and conversing with each other as if they were dear friends. He guessed that they were probably regulars, as they seemed quite at ease within their surroundings. He knew that elders typically had their special 'spot' where they enjoyed catching up with acquaintances.

He ignored them all, and walked across the small courtyard, hoping to discover the main theater on the opposite side.

Silver was not disappointed in these hopes, as he came upon another entryway. As he was headed toward the door into the center room, he was almost run into by a tall woman garbed in a traditional kimono. He thought she looked somehow familiar, but he couldn't quite place how or where he might have met her before.

The youth muttered out a brief apology, hoping to just move on. But the curious coincidence made him take a second look.

She was as tall as he was, an unusual occurrence to the point of being unique for a woman, with raven black hair that spilled halfway down her back. Her attire was a vibrant red and embroidered with a kingfisher pattern. The more he looked, the more he got that feeling that he knew her.

It didn't make any sense at all... considering he didn't spend much time out in the open. And he had never been to Ecruteak before, so, unless she was well traveled, none of this seemed remotely possible.

Silver pondered on it some more, seeking to find the answer and avoid the nagging feeling afterwards of a mystery unsolved. Still, he feared how awkward he was acting, until suddenly, it dawned on him.

He stepped back a little in shock as the truth revealed itself.

Despite his height, his features were not so rough that he could not pass as female. No, the point of his chin and even his jawline were ambiguous enough under the influence of the make-up to hide his masculinity. With a loose, flamboyant kimono and the long tresses on the head piece, he might just have been an unusually tall and broad shouldered waitress. There were no rules that said the server's beauty had to come close to rivaling the Kimono Girls themselves.

Silver colored as he hit the wall behind him with his back, being unforgivably clumsy for himself. The worst part, the absolute worst part was what he was starting to come to terms with. Gold could pull the look off; the only reason he recognized him is well... He supposed he wanted to see him in the server, had been, in a way, expecting (or hoping) to see the raven-haired soon, probably trundling after him as always. Or alternatively, perhaps Silver knew him so well he could pick him out, even under the crazy disguises the guy sometimes donned. The thought was both befuddling and frustrating to him.

_'Why in the hell? Why in the hell...?'_ An even better question - why _was_ he dressed up in the first place?

He had always known Gold to be a bit strange, that was frequently apparent to him over the course of their respective journeys. But this? Well, this was especially bizarre. He could hardly wrap his mind around it, his mind remembering one version of Gold and then seeing him playing dress up now.

Silver ultimately decided that this foolishness had wasted enough of his precious time.

"Why are you here?" he demanded to know.

"...Recognize me, did you?" his rival called out, smiling quite devilishly with those painted red lips.

"You aren't well disguised," he told him, even though that wasn't the truth. It was simply his own miserable fault for knowing the freak so well that he could realize him in a girl's wardrobe. Anyone else would have been successfully fooled.

"I thought you_ liked_ it when I get dressed up," the raven snickered suddenly, his stupid manly hands overtaking the redhead's and drawing him close as if to embrace him. "You didn't seem to mind, last time, at the Radio Tower, that is, not with the way you tore off my costume. I thought you found it rather your style."

"That was...! ...It certainly says nothing about my preferences!"

He was shaking with a mix of embarrassment, and inexplicably to his rival, genuine anger. Silver managed to free himself from the grasp by twisting Gold's arm while he was caught off guard, and then stole back a few paces, fuming to the extent that his eyes, always so cold a color, seemed to veritably burn. To tell truth, it was intimidating. Gold did not quite know how to answer that. He'd only meant to tease the other, after all, to rile him up just a little - it was too fun to resist - but not to actually upset him so much. Never.

"What's going on? Did I say something to tick you off?"

He sighed. If he never said a word, he couldn't very well expect Gold to understand his thought process.

"That uniform... it's not a game. You should have never degraded yourself to wear it. The people wear it are cowards, scum. I_ hate_ them. It was a terrible idea on your part."

"I'm sorry..." Gold looked conflicted between hurt and trying to hide it. Silver purported that the average person would have felt bad for causing this reaction in him, but he was not the average person. "I was only trying to help. Do something, you know, to stop them. It was just part of my-"

"Of your plan? Well. It makes no matter. If you wanted to fight them, wear your own clothes. There is no excuse." He was miserably reminded of the circumstances that had brought him to Johto in the first place. His own father... he couldn't even think of it now. There was no gray area, he despised the elder. Somehow, he would rid the world of his sire's enterprise and make sure that the group never started up ever again. His own vain wish.

Gold brushed off the harsh words, figuring there had to be a reason Silver felt so strongly about it. And if that was the case, well, he wouldn't argue the point.

"The stage is in here, in case you were looking for it."

"I _was_."

Silver now looked as if he was reconsidering the idea, one foot in, one out the door like he always seemed to be in Gold's company. The battling experience was what he wanted, but there was the inconvenience of having this one tag along, as he unerringly would if Silver stuck around. For some reason the fool clung to him like a magnet whenever they met up. He didn't pretend to understand why, but it changed things.

"Stay," he asked. "See the show, Silver, tonight's is sure to have a little something extra." His eyes were filled with an eagerness that bordered on affectionate. He could feel himself blush as Gold cornered him, trying to will him into staying. But hadn't he decided that some time ago?

"I will." He could not help but hope the other man gave him a better reason to. Wait, since when had thoughts like this crossed his mind?

"I knew you couldn't resist spending some time with me. You're always coming after me - you must want a friend after all, Silver, don't you?" He teased, poking the air in front of his rival's face with his index finger. "I'm honored that I'm your first pick."

Silver was not fond of being harassed in such a way, and it ruined whatever strange mood had come over him in which he'd wanted to hear Gold speak to him. He was over it now, and had not transitioned into a pleasant one.

"_Stop it_. You look ridiculous. Get away from me."

He huffed and stalked off in a new direction to collect himself, finding the room where the performance dances took place. There were several low-bearing tables with mats placed around them for seating. He nabbed one near the back of the room and sat down, cross legged.

He absolutely refused to look at or acknowledge Gold, even just the many glances the other young man sent him from his place at the hostesses' station. He was here for one purpose and one purpose only - to challenge the Kimono Girls to a battle. He had to wait until after the recital to do so, but that did not mean he had the time to fuck around with his rival, who was dressing up for reasons Silver could not even begin to guess at and was all too eager to spend time with him.

He merely sipped at his tea and tried to appear aloof.

**. . . . .**

It was in the middle of the performance when things began to go even more downhill.

Up until that point, Silver had been enjoying it more than he had thought he would, seeing the stately dancing and the pageantry. He didn't believe it was his type of entertainment, but inexplicably, it was. Perhaps it was his old-fashioned breeding speaking, liking to indulge in such an elegant pastime. He sat back and waited for it to finish so that then he could make his challenge. Everything had been going reasonably well, so of course that couldn't be allowed to persist. No, it seemed he was fated never to have a plan, even a small plan, go off without any hitches.

There was a point in the evening where several observations began to add up into a worrisome conclusion.

Throughout the time, he had been bothered by Gold occasionally, who stopped by his table every so often to try to talk to him, or to apologize, or to see how he was doing. He kept up his silent treatment, unwilling to give an inch in their mostly one-sided squabble.

When he wasn't pestering Silver or taking care of the other patrons, he seemed to hover close by the stage, as if he were guarding it in a way. The behavior was so strange that it set off warning bells in his mind. He began to try to puzzle out why he might be choosing to do that instead of keeping in the back of the theater room at the hostesses' station where he probably should be at.

He watched his rival for some time, noting where his gaze fell, or any small movements he made. His eyes kept darting back to a certain table near the front where three men sat, dressed in dark clothing. These three were watching the dancers intently.

As soon as he was certain that these were the people Gold was watching so closely, he started to form his own appraisal of them as well.

There was something about them that didn't feel quite right. He pondered it, but wasn't able to make a connection. It was not until they acted that he realized what was occurring here.

Midway through the performance, one man got to his feet, and then the two men sitting beside him. They walked off to one side of the room as if they were preparing to leave without seeing the whole dance. He shuffled to the other end. It was not immediately strange, given there were exits on both sides of the room, but he had his eyes peeled for them ever since he had caught on.

It then became very clear what they wanted when they climbed up on the stage.

The Kimono Girls halted in their recital, and the elder of them spoke to the leader of the men. She asked him what it was he intended by interrupting. His response was abrupt, rude.

"We're here for your Pokemon," he called out in answer. "You can try to refuse, but we will have them either way."

"They are not with us. They are elsewhere. We do not use them during this performance, so there was no need to have them at our side." She bowed slightly. "Our guests are not armed either. No one is allowed to bring in their own Pokemon, unless given prior approval by us, in the case of a battle appointment. I would ask you to leave, peaceably. Not to disturb these grounds."

"They're somewhere else in the building, aren't they? We'll find them and take them then. You will tell us _where_."

The brute advanced toward her, and it was then that Silver found himself standing.

It might be true that persons were not allowed to carry a Pokemon normally, but since he had not been greeted at his arrival, he had gone in with all six of his on hand. Not that he would have gone in without at least one, anyhow. He would have brought one in even if he had to smuggle it under his clothes.

He would not stand for this. Not only was it wrong, but he now realized fully who these men were. The scum.

Closer to the goings-on, Gold had ascended the stage, withdrawing a single Pokeball from a hidden part in his sleeve.

"I'd rethink that, if I were you," he warned. "You shouldn't act that way toward a lady, or anyone, to be honest. Don't you know better? If you wish to battle, battle me."

"Who's this?" the first man's partner called out, smiling like a fool.

"Who are you, young lady?"

"You can't even tell," Gold joked, pulling off his wig. "I'm not a girl, and I'll wipe the floor with you. Come on, take me on!"

The one closest to him pulled out his own Pokemon, seeming to accept the challenge. He sent it out, revealing a Rhyhorn emitted from the red light.

"You can't win them all," the raven added, laughing to himself as he calculated the type advantage. Before he sent him out, Silver already knew what his choice would be.

His first partner, the one he seemed to trust the most. A male Typhlosion, a fire type fully evolved and of passable strength, Silver would admit. The beast shot up its flame as soon as it sighted its opponents, growling low. Its Trainer seemed to be thinking hard on what to do first or, perhaps, he was waiting for them to make the first move so that he could react to it.

Either way, this conflict was about to begin.

Silver moved closer to the stage, hand on his belt, but doing nothing otherwise. His eyes were fixed on the two who hadn't joined the fight. He didn't trust anyone, least of all Team Rocket grunts, who these men indubitably were. They had no shreds of honor, and he guessed that if the fight looked like it wasn't going well, they'd turn on the one who had attacked them to try and barrel him over with the strength of three combined.

He would step in if that happened, if only to make sure the idiot didn't get himself seriously injured, but until then, he could handle it on his own as far as the crimson-haired was concerned. He was the one that jumped up there, the one who seemingly knew about this beforehand and hadn't breathed a word of it to him. If he wanted to do the solo hero thing, well, whatever. Silver didn't care, or so he told himself.

"Just who do you think you are?" the grunt called out once he realized that the raven wouldn't be relying on another fighter to use against them. He seemed enraged by the very notion of it. "Don't be so cocky that you think you can only use one! You'll see kid, you shouldn't mess with us!"

Gold barked out a laugh.

"There's no problem. My Pokemon could handle any of you, even all of you at the same time! It makes no difference."

No, that wasn't it. He could tell, just from knowing him, honestly. It wasn't that Gold would never pull a stunt like this, but some intuition spoke to the redhead that made him consider alternate explanations to the behavior.

"You only brought one, didn't you?" he commented, once the thought had mulled over long enough. "You didn't bring any of the others."

"Ehh," his rival turned to look at him briefly, "that might be true."

Silver huffed as if to express his disapproval of it all. "You are as they say, then."

"Look. _Look_. It doesn't matter. Sure, I'm not as prepared as you, but there's a good reason why I didn't bring them all. Did you ever think of that?"

By then the grunt had decided to start without him. He was the one in command of the Rhyhorn. The thing began its first charge, moving in slowly, steadily. "Scary Face."

The rock-type halted in its movements and suddenly, looming, scarlet eyes were projected into the air before its opponents gaze. Typhlosion was unable to avoid the gaze, and appeared wary of it, almost as if he had flinched. No matter how many times they faced up against this type of attack, it was the kind that could not help but rattle Pokemon. It was hard to say what about the display unnerved them so, but all in all, it had the desired effect. Typhlosion was frozen, dazed, and thus, at a sore disadvantage.

"You should watch what's going on. If you only have one with you, then any error could be the end of you," Silver advised. It wasn't that he was trying to assist Gold, of course, but more that he thought he should give some direction to him so that the fight would continue on a bit longer, and the overzealous fool could weaken Team Rocket before it was Silver's turn to step in.

"I know that much at least! I'm not an idiot!" Gold argued. "Exbo, it's fine, nothing to be afraid of, so tackle that nasty Rhyhorn, pronto!"

"Then don't act like one."

"Sorry to break up your lover's quarrel, boys, but... Rhyhorn, use Rock Blast."

"You know I'm getting really tired of you creeps butting in where you don't belong!" the dark-haired boy snapped, turning his focus back to the task at hand.

Appearing all around Rhyhorn's body were fearsome looking stones. The Pokemon focused its energy, hurling the rocks in its opponent's direction with a vengeance. They crashed into Exbo, making him skid back a few paces, claws digging into the stage floor in an effort to keep from bowling over. He faced this onslaught thrice, each time getting up with a determination that could only be admired. He growled in tandem with his master, who looked properly worked up.

"Flame Wheel, now."

Fire sparked up then, rapidly engulfing the dorsal side of Typhlosion's form. The Pokemon's eyes seemed to glimmer from the flames, or perhaps from the anticipation of retaliating.

Stretching out its long body, it loosened up its leg muscles and then dived into action, taking a running start. Before the battlers' eyes it curled itself into a ball and spun in Rhyhorn's direction quicker than it could move out of the way. Each new rotation meant the flames' increase, burning hotter and more vehemently than before.

Its speed was impressive for a Pokemon so large - one that could easily stand beside and tower over the average person's height, its movements voracious and wild like the beast it appeared to be.

No sooner had it begun than was it colliding with the stony quadruped, flames singing the protective shell of the other Pokemon as they clashed. Rhyhorn grunted out a form of its name, pushing back against Typhlosion in a shoving match to throw the fire-type off of it.

Behind the one grunt, his compatriot snatched up a ball from his belt, swiftly preparing to release a fighter of his own. It was in that instance that Silver decided he'd held back plenty long enough to still be useful, and he got ready to do the same. No point in waiting around and being a spectator. Weavile was itching for a test of its power anyway.

In tandem, he and the other foe released their chosen Pokemon, the beasts materializing in a beam of pale red light upon the sage floor. Opposite from where his oldest team-member stood, the Rocket member had produced a Weezing.

"Gyro Ball!"

The Weezing started spinning like a dervish, simultaneously launching itself onto a forward path straight to where Gold was busy battling, his back turned to the other Pokemon's illicit motions. Silver's eyes quickly ascertained the intention, and thankfully his body moved faster than his mind did.

He dashed over and pushed the other boy down to the ground and out of the way, falling with him off to an angle. His Weavile then attacked back instinctively on its Trainer's behalf, batting the unsuspecting Weezing away with a freezing Ice Punch. The Poison-type retreated a few feet, shaking off any side effects from the blow.

They got on their feet quickly, his rival shooting him a look of thanks as he realized he had been saved. He focused back on the original two as the grunt's Rhyhorn came barreling at Typhlosion in a Take Down assault. Silver was beginning to boil over with rage now, and he now locked-in on the Weezing and its Trainer, determined to put them out of commission for once and for all.

"Exbo, you can dodge that," he encouraged his partner, a smile of pride playing around his lips when the Pokemon did exactly that. Enthusiasm no matter the situation, the redhead noted. Even when all was dead serious, Gold could always be expected to be the one in an upbeat mood. Perhaps it was even his coping mechanism.

"Now you hit it back. Tackle!"

Exbo rammed the Rock-type from the side, tipping it over. It wasn't very effective, but it accomplished the task of getting it off its four feet and onto its back.

Rhyhorn were a heavy species, and Silver suspected this had been the goal all along. Once belly up, Rhyhorn had little chance of regaining its stance. Its inability to move or to use its sharp horn as a form of defense left it vulnerable to any sort of attack.

Gold then ordered a barrage of tackles, slowly but surely weakening the foe until finally, its eyes shut and it gave up completely.

The grunt that had been commanding it called it back, looking skittish if Silver had to choose just one adjective. It did not surprise him when the man turned on his heel, and without another word made a mad dash for the nearest port, abandoning the situation that had gone awry for him.

_'Run, like the scared little rat you are,_' he thought venomously, deciding it wasn't even worth the energy he would expend chasing after that one man. His eyes narrowly watched him exit the theater, tearing out the back door in a hurry with no regard as to his partners. All for themselves, Silver concluded, but that was about what he had come to expect from these losers.

"I'll be joining in, kiddos!" the third member, silent up until now, called.

Added to the fray then was a mammoth Lickitung. Being that Typhlosion was now focused on facing off against Weezing, the crimson-haired boy took stock of the newcomer, figuring it was his battle to win. Due to the unique properties of the Pokemon, he figured it would be difficult to try and pull off any close-range attacks when the beast had its long tongue to ward off any forays. How then to approach this one? The quality he had on his side was Weavile's lightning speed, so, if he could figure out a way to utilize it, that'd be his best bet.

In the mists of his strategizing, the silver-eyed raised his glance to survey the scene anew, only to find his foe not assessing Weavile as a counterpart, but Typhlosion, whose back was turned. It was in a collision match with Weezing, and not able to split its attention anywhere else.

"HEY!"

Silver watched in contempt, but not with much surprise as Gold darted off, intercepting the attack.

He had placed himself in between the Lickitung and his Pokemon, who turned at sensing its master's presence, its eyes wising up to the situation. It vocalized the first syllable of its name in worry, but before the move could be completed, the Normal-type backed off in time to hit only empty air. Clearly it had been caught off guard by Gold's questionably courageous antics.

But the Pokemon was not deterred completely by his interruption. It waited for a moment, dark, empty eyes glinting. Its handler then affirmed the unspoken command with a very disheartening, "Yes."

The Lickitung's tongue extended outward, and it was all so fast from there on. Neither of the two men realized the target of the attack until it was completely carried out. Gold was wrapped swiftly about the middle of his abdomen and lifted bodily by the menacing appendage. The tongue reeled him closer to Lickitung and out of Exbo's reach.

The shock of this new development made Silver's blood run unnaturally cold. Somehow this action was flavored more sinister than the previous time the idiot had been in their way and they had done something about it.

It was not the type of fact that had ever consciously occupied Silver's mind before, but the knowledge rushed to the forefront of his comprehension, stemming from the many nights he had scrolled through and read Pokedex entries before sleep.

A Lickitung's tongue, convergently with the human tongue, was one of the strongest if not _the_ strongest muscle in its entire body. The supply of force it could inflict on its prey through the outlet was easily enough to crush bone or to rip a victim in two. In the wild, this trait was integrated into Lickitung's predatory method. The species' diet overall was that of an omnivore, trying anything and everything that piqued its hypersensitive taste buds, but it had great success in subduing foes of various sizes with the ready-made weapon in its arsenal.

Still, the redhead knew that panicking would only hinder his senses.

It took most of his strength, but he consciously reined himself in, only tolerating the small vestiges of terror that absolutely refused to budge. They sent chills ripping down his spine, and adrenaline was surely now pulsing throughout his system, giving him this absurd, intensifying high that he now felt overcome him.

"Gold," he barely whispered, taking a tentative step forward. He was not entirely certain what for or why he had made it, considering it was probably the opposite of what he should be doing to ensure the man's safety. Team Rocket was behaving like a caged animal right now, lashing out and using anything they could to turn the tables back into their favor.

The other was fighting it, as he knew he would. His arms were braced as his hands shoved and pulled at his bindings, attempting to extricate himself from them. The background soundtrack was mostly composed of Typhlosion's angry roaring as it fought to get near enough to help its master, blocked off by the Weezing and distracted by rage.

"I... don't... know... why you think... I'm such... a threat," he choked out.

"It's nothing personal. But we can't have some pest interfering in our plans. So we eliminate the threat where we can, and move on with life. You picked the wrong battle kid."

He ordered his Pokemon to tighten the grasp, and Gold's skin was beginning to turn an alarming shade of red. Silver took two quick steps forward, eyes narrowed. He couldn't just stand there, but damned if he did, damned if he didn't. How to proceed?

"Nuh-uh, back it up. Lickitung can still squeeze harder than that, and then you can say goodbye to your friend, because it'll crush him all into bits. But you're a smart kid, you must know that or you wouldn't be looking so spooked. ...Of course, if you'll surrender, then I'll let you both go free right now."

"Come play with us instead, if you don't want to take the offer," the Weezing's Trainer beckoned, grinning toothily.

He snatched up a second Pokeball from his belt, and threw it, releasing his Murkrow in the gleam of red light from the capsule. While he prepared to take on this foe, his Weavile danced circles around the Lickitung, waiting for any signs of weakness in which it might be able to attack without causing any harm to Gold, who had now gone slack under the torturous grip, hands no longer trying to pry himself free. He was conserving his breath it seemed, eyes clasped shut and a look of scared concentration written on his face.

"Murkrow, take it down with your Pursuit. Weavile... Beat Up," he called darkly, his voice full of menace in the latter syllables. If he had been able to juggle another thought in his mind right then, he might have been displeased to hear the way he spoke. He sounded like his father.

The dual-type wasted no time pummeling into the offending Pokemon, striking it six times in the gut or the head with as much wrath as he felt. This seemed to incense the Lickitung, but it did not ultimately let go of him.

Silver was thinking hard, nearly biting through his tongue as he tried to figure out a way to save the situation. Elsewhere Exbo was under duress from the one remaining Pokemon, but it seemed to be holding its own, despite not having its Trainer to give it direction.

Wait, that was it!

"Use Ice Punch!" He gestured where he meant, and Weavile responded, swinging its claw up against the underside of the Normal-type's massive tongue at the origin, potentially the most sensitive part of the length.

It soon succumbed under the pressure of multiple attacks, releasing its hold on Gold, who fell uselessly to the floor with a sickening thud.

Lickitung howled its cry, retracting the whip-like extension while rounding about to retaliate. Weavile drove it back a few paces with a flurry of additional Ice Punches, leaving the area open for Silver to run over to his comrade and examine him. He relied on his oldest partner to take over for the time being.

The redhead got down to see him closely, and pushed two fingers against the radial side of the guy's arm, his other hand hovering above his nose and mouth. He was breathing, and his pulse didn't seem to be erratic; he was just unconscious, then. That was a relief in itself.

"Wake up," he commanded, shaking him vigorously by the shoulder. "Get up, _now_. You need to open your eyes."

Behind them, Lickitung was on its last legs after a relentless pursuit by Weavile. All it took was one cutting Faint Attack, and aptly enough, the thing gave in and collapsed.

Resorting to his next thought, Silver slapped the side of Gold's face hard, which seemed to do the trick.

He shot up in one quick motion, grabbing the offending hand by the wrist. A strange jolt crackled through that part of the crimson-haired boy's body when he did, and he found his mind was momentarily washed clean. He stared at the way they were connected for another moment, and summarily ripped his hand away from the grasp, ready to have that floating sensation in his stomach subside.

"Geez, no need for violence, I'm awake!"

"Faint Attack, again," Silver ordered, already navigating his attention back on the battlefield. "And you, Wing Attack."

He watched approvingly as his Pokemon cornered the remaining Weezing, Murkrow from above and anterior, Weavile sliding up behind it to deliver the blow.

Unsurprisingly the Poison-type keeled over from the twin attacks, and his Trainer looked to be as if he'd try to escape without even recalling the Pokemon. Silver's however, did not let him attempt this, keeping the man sandwiched between them at one side of the stage.

The redhead walked over swiftly, and when he did, the grunt was sprawled on the wooden floor, pathetically sniveling. Silver sank down beside him, and yanked him sitting by the collar, his voice resonating near silent as he delivered his warning.

"Run," he whispered silkily, "run and tell all your little friends to give up. If I _ever_ see you again, I won't be letting you go free that time. Understand?"

"Uhh-Understood!"

He released his collar and stepped back, allowing the grunt to scramble to his feet and sprint off, clumsy in his terror.

Silver blinked, trying to let go of the emotions flooding his brain at this moment, now that everything was becoming settled again, but failing miserably.

His senses were alive with wariness, and the feeling just wasn't leaving him any time soon. Half of what he was feeling he couldn't even identify at this time, but he could at least have his suspicions confirmed.

He rounded on Gold in the next second, shoving him against the nearest wall, unfettered with rage, then taking a step back, breathing forcefully and trying to regulate it, to retain some sense of control.

"You knew those... those... that _they_ were going to show up." He struggled to say the words, but it clear to anyone listening that it wasn't a question.

"I did," Gold admitted, feeling a little out of sorts himself.

He had the distinct impression that he should have told Silver this beforehand, but why should he? They weren't working at this together, or anything like that. He owed him nothing, surely not details like these. And yet he couldn't shake it, that instinct that he'd betrayed his rival somehow whether there was a logical basis for guilt or not.

He had sort of spilled the beans, by asking him to stay for the show. It wasn't his fault if Silver misinterpreted and didn't pick up on the hint. Just the idea that he wasn't all alone in his efforts had been comforting, but it seemed all that had been wasted thoughts. Victory? It didn't feel like it. There was none the camaraderie he could have hoped for.

"And that's why you were here, dressed like you are."

"No, I just favor a well-made wig," he breathed out, sarcastically, "Of course that's why I'm here. Honestly, Silver I could ask you the same thing. Why are you here? If all this is new to you, why show up at a place like the Dance Theater? It's just... it's not what I'd expect from you."

He paused for a moment, brooding.

"Why does anyone come here, apart from the dance? These Kimono Girls, they're talented, but in more than one discipline."

And when he put it that way, it was glaringly obvious. "You wanted the challenge."

He confirmed this with a perfunctory nod. "Perhaps before."

"Just because of this disturbance, doesn't mean you can't still have what you came for, Silver. I'm sure they would happily accept to battle you, if that's what you desired. Ask them." He smiled warmly for someone Silver was earnestly trying to despise. "I could put in a good word for you, if it came to that."

"Don't bother yourself. I'm leaving."

"Why?"

"It's none of your concern," he answered, turning toward the door.

However, it appeared he was not going to be allowed to do so in peace, as in the next moment Gold had grabbed his arm and prevented him from continuing. His eyes flickered over him, a little bit annoyed but also a small portion interested despite himself. He inclined his head as if to ask what his rival meant by keeping him in one place, but he didn't have to wait long to find out.

"I really am sorry, Silver. I should have told you what was going on. Forgive me?"

"Fine." He mostly said it to shut him up.

"Okay. Uh, see you again sometime?" Gold sounded like a little boy, always so eager. Silver couldn't even pretend to understand why it fascinated him.

He shrugged, and then pulled his arm out of the grasp. He wasn't quite sure where he was headed at the moment, but he simply needed it to be somewhere other than here.

**. . . . .  
**

The better part of an hour later, he glanced upward and realized it was too late to be heading for the next route to camp out. The sky was raven black and the stars were showing now, assembling at their stations around the moon; the satellite shone brightly on this clear evening.

He would have to stay within the city tonight. Even if he had wanted to push it, Ecruteak was unique in that they closed their city walls and gatehouses at dusk.

Drawing from tradition, as well as old superstitions about yōkai coming disguised as travelers after dark, a lock down was long since established. He wasn't going anywhere fast, and this meant he'd have to find somewhere to stay. An abandoned building, perhaps, if he could find one that suited his needs. He couldn't very well stay at the Pokemon Center, for various reasons, not limited to the fact that Gold would probably be there.

'_Stay_,' he'd declared before all of that. '_See the show, Silver, tonight's is sure to have a little something extra._'

His eyes that he was named for had looked so content, and yet, he had been manipulating him. He had obviously only wanted him to stick around in case the grunts had proved too daunting for his incompetent manner of training. And to think he'd been taken in by the display - it was humiliating! He prided himself on reading others, more importantly, not having to rely on or care about others, and then he had a setback like this.

"Imagine seeing you here!"

He turned on his heel, looking for the source of the voice. This was a quiet part of town; he hadn't expected to find anyone out on the streets, let alone someone who - somehow - recognized who he was. It made him feel unnerved.

"Excuse me?" he snapped, in no mood for genuine pleasantries.

"Not glad to see me, then, I take it? Why hello, Silver." The voice's owner appeared to him, and it was of all people, that mystic guy he'd seen once or twice on the road, the one who had an unnatural passion for the legendary Pokemon Suicune. Eugene might have been his name... no, it was Eusine, come to think of it.

He surprised himself by recalling that much.

"Are you perhaps here to enjoy the autumn leaves? Partake in a gym battle? Ecruteak holds many wonders in this season. I always try to come back in the fall, just to savor it. Nothing could be as beautiful as the sights I see in my day-to-day work, but there is a certain nostalgia in being here, and friends to be visited as well."

Silver nodded noncommittally at this grand speech.

"Fine as it is, it is a bit late for one to be out and about on their own, do you not agree? I hope that you will accept my invitation. You can stay with me tonight; I don't live so far away, and it would give me solace to know you were safe abed instead of wandering around down these inky streets. It's relatively safe here, but one can never be too sure. Spirits reign in old places like these, Silver, and we should leave them be rather than provoke them!"

"Fine."

It's not like he had anything better in mind, or so he told himself when he agreed to the offer.

**. . . . .**

It was only a short time after Silver had walked out that the raven found himself reacquainted with his source.

Ecruteak's clairvoyant Gym Leader had been ensconced in his own important business, warding off criminals at some of the historic sites in the city, and had reluctantly asked Gold to be the defense here in his place. This after having foreseen that the girls of the theater and their well-trained Pokemon might make a delightful target for lesser hearts to attack.

The request itself had come immediately following the Gym battle, which Gold had won more or less decisively, although Ghost Pokemon were a notoriously tricky breed.

The lesson he had learned from that fight was that even if you are facing an opponent whose style throws you off, that should not mean you should give up on your own style entirely. Tweak it, adjust it as needed, but if you don't fight with even the semblance of your natural rhythm, that is going to be a very difficult battle for you to win, indeed.

"I am pleased to know that I can count on you to protect my city," Morty complimented him when they met up, lips turned up in a smile that said many things to the raven-haired boy.

"Though, I must ask, who was that remarkable young man who fought at your side? I have never seen him before, save for then. Is he a friend of yours?"

Gold laughed a little, to forget about his own doubts. "That's Silver. We're not friends, really, but we've met up a lot throughout our travels. And I wouldn't exactly call it battling at my side either. He sure wouldn't, anyway."

"Why do you say that?"

He paused. Come to think of it, he didn't want to answer that.

Silver's hatred of Team Rocket, though nothing worth hiding insofar as it wasn't wrong, felt private. He acted upon it with such a vehement passion that there had to be more brewing under the surface, unless his rival was an extremely reactive person by nature, which Gold supposed could be true. It's not like they knew everything about each other, and this quirk might have escaped him somehow. Even he had never gotten the full story on that, and until he did, he sort of wanted it to be between the two of them. Yeah, he liked the sound of that.

"Oh nothing, he just doesn't play nice with other kids, so he wouldn't want you saying that."

Gold brushed off the Gym Leader's curiosity as casually as he could muster, even with the feeling that he was fighting a losing battle. Morty was sharp, even sharper than one man had any right to be, if his reputation was to be believed. And he believed it, all right. Even when the guy was smiling, there was something more behind it. It was intriguing, it made you want to know what was on his mind.

Kind of like whenever Silver glared at him. Such different expressions, but similar traits. He didn't know how he hadn't recognized it until now. It held the same questions for him. Unless the crimson-haired boy genuinely hated him, or found him that much of a nuisance. _Eek_. He mentally sweat dropped. He sure hoped _that_ wasn't the real reason, not after all they'd been through.

"Hmm. In any case, it's late, and I don't think they'll be coming back. The city should be safe now, and for a while yet, I would wager. I think the two of you have sufficiently shown them we are not a people to be meddled with." He stopped, thinking on some notion. "Why don't you stay at my home tonight? Enjoy a little hospitality, and..." he smirked knowingly, "you can tell me some more about this friend of yours."

"That'd be neat."

He didn't want to turn the offer down; who would? If the conversation went anywhere he didn't want it to go, he had ways of changing the subject. Aside from that, the look Morty was giving him suggested a bit more than hospitality. And he was interested, that he couldn't deny. The guy wasn't hard on the eyes.

It was going to be a long, but hopefully eventful night.

**THE END.**

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**A/N:** Reviewing would be nice if you dig it. I respond to each one, even one worders. ;) This is part **ONE**, so put this on your Story Alert if you wanna read the rest when I post it. FINALLY, I have 30+ other stories on my FFNET account, so if you like how I write, check 'em out!

And, just before anyone worries too much, the main pairing in here is Gold x Silver, but hey, expect the unexpected. Hehe.


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